Pastries: How it started and its variety

Pastries were first created by the ancient Egyptians. The classical period of ancient Greece and Rome had pastries made with almonds, flour, honey, and seeds. The introduction of sugar into European cookery resulted in a large variety of new pastry recipes in France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

The word “Pastry” is derived from the French word ‘Patisserie,' which means cake or the processing and serving of cakes. The term “pastry” is commonly used to describe a grouping of cakes or even when referring to skin dough to make pastries such as puff pastry.

There are six types of pastry. The first is puff pastry, a light and flaky pastry made from a laminated dough, like a croissant. The second one is shortcrust pastry. Shortcrust pastry is a French-style dough with a crumbly, biscuit-like texture. The third one is Pate Sucrée (aka sweet shortcrust pastry).

An example is sweet tart dough. The fourth is Phyllo (Filo), a fragile unleavened dough used to make pastries such as baklava and börek in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo brushed with oil or butter; the pastry is then baked. The fifth is flaky pastry, also known as quick pastry, blitz pastry, or rough puff. It is a light and thin unleavened pastry similar to, but distinct from, puff pastry. It is often called quick pastry or blitz pastry because of the short time its preparation requires. The last one is choux pastry, which usually has cream inside.